Hey guys, what's up? Well I just got back from the 2nd annual Las Vegas Open and all I could say is it was awesome!! The 2nd Las Vegas Open was promised to be bigger, it was. It was promised to have more variety, and it did!! This year, the Con changed venue to the Flamingo Hilton in order to accommodate a much bigger turn out. The 40K championships, the flagship event drew 256 players making it the biggest 40K event in the country. As I stated in an earlier post, I decided to do something different this year, the 40K championship was great last year however I wanted to try out the friendly as I am after all a fluff nut. 
The friendly was an easy going 4 round tourney where players were encouraged to bring out the very best in sportsmanship, painting, and themed armies. I went in expecting to have a good time and boy did I ever. I played 4 great opponents with beautiful armies and great attitudes making each round a pleasure to play. Gone was the stress of playing in a no holds barred tournament with crazy combinations and people getting upset over anything, in was playing 40K the way it's supposed to be experienced, laid back with a lot of laughs, no stress, but still playing to win and with alcohol. Priority was placed on the experience itself, of playing a game with your buddy and making sure that both of you are having the best time possible. Now don't get me wrong, I do like competitive 40K and will probably go back to playing in regular tournaments however this experience is why I love playing 40K, to be able to tell a story that both players enjoy. The timing of the games was another plus, starting at 11am and ending at 7pm which gave you ample time to enjoy Vegas with your significant other (which my wife loved). The relax attitude of the TOs was also great as well as beautiful beer girls selling us adult beverages and in some cases outstanding deals with the purchase of a beer was wonderful (I ended up getting a starter box for Drop Zone Commander for buying 2 beers!!). The only negative that I will report is that I wish players were matched up just like a normal tourney instead of shaking the hand of a player you have never played and playing him. Also I wished they had 2nd and 3rd place prizes to go along with best general. The tourney also mentioned teams of players based on factions such as imperial vs. Chaos which was never a factor in the tourney. This would have added a lot as it would have made the games we play tell a story with multiple arcs based on the winners and losers. Other than these minor quibs, the tourney was a blast and something I will gladly come back next year to play in. 
After all of that how did I do? Well I actually did surprisingly. I took a list that was more theme then substance however also packed a wallop if you were not prepared for it. It was extremely skewed in that it contained nothing but armor and only 1 unit that contained wounds. This definitely surprised a lot of my opponents who was looking at people taking lots of infantry and some of my opponents actually prepared for it. In the end I went 3-0-1, undefeated and tied my 4th game where a win would have guaranteed me winning or at least tying the event. All in all a very good outing for the Dark Mechanicus and a very well run Con/Tourney by Frontline Gaming. Well done Gentlemen and here's to more successful events for you guys.
An A+
